how to write a killer thesis statement

Module 5: Writing Process

How to write a killer thesis statement that garners this dope an a.

Whether you are writing a short essay or a doctoral dissertation, your thesis statement will arguably be the most difficult sentence to formulate. An effective thesis statement states the purpose of the paper and, therefore, functions to control, assert and structure your entire  argument . Without a sound thesis, your argument may sound weak, lacking in direction, and  uninteresting to the reader.

Start with a question — then make the answer your thesis

Regardless of how complicated the subject is, almost any thesis can be constructed by answering a question.

• Question: “What are the benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade classroom?”

• Thesis: “Computers allow fourth graders an early advantage in technological and scientific education.”
• Thesis: “The river comes to symbolize both division and progress, as it separates our characters and country while still providing the best chance for Huck and Jim to get to know one another.”
• Thesis: “Through careful sociological study, we’ve found that people naturally assume that “morally righteous” people look down on them as “inferior,” causing anger and conflict where there generally is none.”

Tailor your thesis to the type of paper you’re writing

N ot all essays persuade, and not all essays teach. The goals of your paper will help you find the best thesis.

• Ex. “This dynamic between different generations sparks much of the play’s tension, as age becomes a motive for the violence and unrest that rocks King Lear.”
• Ex. “The explosion of 1800’s philosophies like Positivism, Marxism, and Darwinism undermined and refuted Christianity to instead focus on the real, tangible world.”
• Ex. “Without the steady hand and specific decisions of Barack Obama, America would never have recovered from the hole it entered in the early 2000’s.”

Ensure your thesis is provable

Good Theses Examples:

• “By owning up to the impossible contradictions, embracing them and questioning them, Blake forges his own faith, and is stronger for it. Ultimately, the only way for his poems to have faith is to temporarily lose it.”
• “According to its well-documented beliefs and philosophies, an existential society with no notion of either past or future cannot help but become stagnant.”
• “By reading “Ode to a Nightingale” through a modern deconstructionist lens, we can see how Keats viewed poetry as shifting and subjective, not some rigid form.”

Bad Theses Examples:

• “The wrong people won the American Revolution.” While striking and unique, who is “right” and who is “wrong” is exceptionally hard to prove, and very subjective.
• “The theory of genetic inheritance is the binding theory of every human interaction.” Too complicated and overzealous. The scope of “every human interaction” is just too big
• “Paul Harding’s novel Tinkers is ultimately a cry for help from a clearly depressed author.” Unless you interviewed Harding extensively, or had a lot of real-life sources, you have no way of proving what is fact and what is fiction.”

Get the sound right

Example thesis statements with good statement language include:

• “Because of William the Conqueror’s campaign into England, that nation developed the strength and culture it would need to eventually build the British Empire.”
• “Hemingway significantly changed literature by normalizing simplistic writing and frank tone.”

Know where to place a thesis statement

Because of the role thesis statements play, they appear at the beginning of the paper, usually at the end of the first paragraph or somewhere in the introduction. Although most people look for the thesis at the end of the first paragraph, its location can depend on a number of factors such as how lengthy of an introduction you need before you can introduce your thesis or the length of your paper.

Limit a thesis statement to one or two sentences in length

Thesis statements are clear and to the point, which helps the reader identify the topic and direction of the paper, as well as your position towards the subject.

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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

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Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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Much Ado About Teaching

How to craft a killer thesis statement.

Thesis statements are tricky. Maybe that’s because there’s so much pressure riding on them. How do you distill all of the ideas of an essay into one or two sentences? It has also been said that the thesis statement is a road map, marking the path of an essay and guiding the reader through the points of the body paragraphs.

I think that intimidates the heck out of students.

A Better Way to Approach Thesis Statements

A thesis statement, in its simplest terms, is a statement. That’s a nice starting point. Instead of conveying all the implications above, and scaring students, just start by saying, I want you to make a statement.

They can handle that.

They like to make statements with their clothes or their taste in music. In doing so, they express something about who they are and how they see things. This isn’t that much different. They are going to express something, an opinion.

That’s the next step… to have an opinion.

If our goal as writing instructors is to teach our students how to write, not what to write, then we must preach that they express their own ideas. And it all starts with the thesis. They must make a statement that comes from their own thinking and understanding. They must write for themselves. Unfortunately, most student write based on what they think their teacher wants to hear.

Years of experience back this up. Each spring I spend a week grading the AP Literature exam essays.  Over the course of the seven days, I typically grade 1,100-1,300 essay. The ones that stand out check off the same boxes — insightful and original thesis, perceptive analysis, well-appointed textual support, and a strong and confident voice. The lower-half essays do just the opposite.

What a Thesis Should Do

A more advanced, but still not intimidating, way to think about the thesis is to view it as engine of the essay.  That’s something that can all understand and relate to. After all, high school kids want to drive everywhere.  With a car, the engine converts energy into power, making all the other parts move. The engine propels it forward. The same is true of a good thesis. It moves the argument or opinion forward. It makes all the other parts of the essay turn.

Our students have the keys to a powerful engine that will move the reader.

They are in control.

And they get to decide where the reader is going.

That’s different than a roadmap with landmarks and coordinates already plotted and submissively followed. An engine gives them the freedom to go where they want.

The Finer Qualities of a Thesis

• It moves from the general to the specific
• It has insight
• It is original
• It answers the prompt

An Example of a Rock-Solid Thesis

Here’s a prompt I gave my students this week:

Chapter 26 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor questions, “Is He Serious? And Other Ironies.” Using Foster’s text as a guide, analyze the use of irony in 1984 and connect its purpose to the meaning of the work as a whole.

A Sample Weak Thesis

Here is a formulaic, superficial thesis that our students need to avoid.

In George Orwell’s futuristic novel, 1984, irony plays a major part and affects many of the novel’s plot twists, contributing to the development of the story and the meaning of the work as a whole.

Let’s poke some holes for a second. There are two glaring weakness with this thesis statement:

1. It basically repeats the prompt, hiding the true voice of the writer.

2. There no insight, and perhaps worse, there is no demonstration that this writer has read  1984 .

A Stronger Thesis

In the novel 1984, Winston feels the incongruity between appearance and reality in this supposed utopia, but as he crusades against the psychological manipulations of the party he ultimately is doomed to conform to its power.

What makes this better?

• It start with general ideas  — in the novel 1984 —  but it quickly identifies specific elements  by naming a character, mentioning the utopia, and identifying the goals of the party.
• It has insight  because it argues that Winston is aware of the irony that exists between the party’s propaganda and reality, but it sets up the bigger irony of the crusader that is doomed to love Big Brother.
• It answers the prompt  by identifying the irony — the supposed utopia — and connects that irony to the meaning of the work as a whole — psychological manipulation as a tool to maintain power.

Writing a Killer Thesis Statement

My class drafted that thesis statement during a mini lesson that connected  1984  and How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

Writing a good thesis statement is the result of two simple actions:

• understanding what the prompt is asking
• asking questions of yourself to develop insightful responses to the prompt

This prompt had two parts:

• The role of irony in 1984
• How that irony factors into the work as a whole

Here are the questions we asked in class during the mini lesson:

• What are some of the examples of irony in 1984?  — The party slogans, the utopia/dystopia disconnect, the ministries, doublethink, the acts of betrayal.
• Are these examples limited or pervasive?  They are pervasive
• Why has the party created a society in which these things are pervasive?  Because it feeds their purpose, which is to have psychological control over its citizens. The more the party slogans are repeated and the more doublethink occurs, the more a person loses their humanity and becomes part of a herd mentality.
• Why does the party want to strip people’s humanity and exert psychological control?  It is how they can maintain totalitarian power.

When you progress through a sequence of questions that feed upon each other, you arrive at insightful conclusions that can be pieced together to form an outstanding thesis.

Brian Sztabnik is just a man trying to do good in and out of the classroom. He was a 2018 finalist for NY Teacher of the Year, a former College Board advisor for AP Lit, and an award-winning basketball coach.

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